Nucleic acids are a group of non-protein

nitrogenous compounds concerned with the

storage and transfer of genetic information.

Macromolecular polymers of nucleotides

Deoxy ribonucleic acid (DNA)

Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
NUCLEOSIDE

BASE + PENTOSE
SUGAR
NUCLEOSIDE
 NUCLEOTIDE
Phosphate
Group

O 5
O=P-O CH2
O
O
N
Nitrogenous base
C4 C1
( Purine/ Pyrimidine)
Sugar
(ribose/ deoxy ribose)
C3 C2
NUCLEOTIDE STRUCTURE

PHOSPATE SUGAR BASE

Ribose or PURINES PYRIMIDINES
Deoxyribose
Adenine (A) Cytosine (C)
Guanine(G) Thymine (T)
Uracil (U)

NUCLEOTIDE
 PURINE
 9 membered heterocyclic structure
 Pyrimidine ring fused to imidazole ring

6 7
1 N
5 N
CH
8
2
4 N9
N
3
 PURINE
Present in RNA and DNA are same
o
NH
2
N N N
N

H2 N
N N
N N
ADENINE GUANINE
( 6 Amino (2 Amino 6
purine) Oxo purine)
Minor Purine Bases

 HYPOXANTHINE

 XANTHINE

 URIC ACID
 Purine Analogs

 Structurally similar to purines

 Inhibit enzymes involved in purine metabolism
OH
 Examples N N

 Allopurinol
N N
 Inhibits xanthine oxidase
SH
 Treatment of hyperuricemia N
N
- 6-mercaptopurine
• Inhibits purine nucleotide synthesis
N N
• Anticancer drug
 PYRIMIDINE

 6 membered nitrogenous ring

structure 4

3 N 5

2 6
N
1
 PYRIMIDINE

4 NH2 O 4 O

3N 5 3 N 5 3 N CH3
5

O 2 6 O 2 6 O 2 6
N N N1
1 1

URACIL THYMINE
CYTOSIN
RNA DNA
E
Both DNA
 Modified Pyrimidine Bases

O
 Dihydro-uracil
N OH

O OH
N

NH2
 5-methyl cytosine
N
Present rarely in RNA CH3

O
N
 Pyrimidine Analogs

 Structurally similar to pyrimidines

 Inhibit enzymes involved in pyrimidine metabolism
 Examples

 5-fluorouracil
 Anticancer drug
-3 DEOXY URIDINE
 Nucleoside with purine bases: suffix –sine

Ribonucleosides
 Adenine + ribose -> Adenosine
 Guanine + ribose -> Guanosine
 Hypoxanthine + ribose -> Inosine
 Xanthine + ribose -> Xanthosine

Deoxyribonucleosides

 Adenine + deoxyribose ->Deoxy adenosine

 Guanine + deoxyribose -> Deoxy guanosine
 Nucleoside with a pyrimidine bases: suffix –dine

Ribonucleosides
 Uracil + ribose -> Uridine
 Cytosine + ribose -> Cytidine

Deoxyribonucleosides

 Cytosine + deoxyribose ->Deoxy cytidine

 Thymine + deoxyribose -> Deoxy
 NUCLEOTIDE

Base + Pentose sugar +

Phosphoric acid
Nucleoside Nucleoside Nucleoside Nucleoside
monophosphate diphosphate triphosphate

Ribonucleotide phosphates
Adenosine Adenosine Adenosine Adenosine
monophosphate (AMP) diphosphate (ADP) triphosphate (ATP)

Guanosine GMP GDP GTP

Inosine IMP IDP ITP

Deoxyribonucleotide phosphates
d-Adenosine d-AMP d-ADP d-ATP

d-Guanosine d-GMP d-GDP d-GTP

Nucleoside Nucleoside Nucleoside Nucleoside
monophosphate diphosphate triphosphate

Ribonucleotide phosphates
Ctyidine CMP CDP CTP

Uridine UMP UDP UTP

Deoxyribonucleotide phosphates

d-Cytidine d-CMP d-CDP d-CTP

d-Thymidine d-TMP d-TDP d-TTP

BIOLOGICALLY IMPORTANT NUCLEOTIDES -
Adenosine derivatives

 ATP
 high energy compound
 Main biological transducer of free

energy
 ADP
 Utilized for ATP formation by

oxidation

 AMP
 Activator of enzymes- glycogen

phosphorylase
 cAMP
 A phosphodiester linkage formed between the 3’
and 5’ positions of ribose group. Such compounds
are called cyclic nucleotides

 Second messengers
in regulating hormone function
Adenosine derivatives

 PAPS (3-phosphoadenosyl 5-
phosphosulfonate)
 Donor of sulfate groups
 Formation of sulfated GAGs
 Utilized in detoxification reactions
NAD+

 Involved in oxidation reduction reactions

 Coenzyme for
• Pyruvate dehydrogenase

• Isocitrate dehydrogenase

• Malate dehydrogenase
NADP

Coenzyme for
 Glucose 6-phosphate dehyrogenase

 6-phospho gluconate dehydrogenase

 Cytosolic malic enzyme

 FAD

As coenzyme
 Succinate dehydrogenase
 Acyl CoA dehydrogenase
 Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex
 D-amino oxidase
 Xanthine oxidase
NADPH

 Fatty acid biosynthesis and steroids

 Maintenance of glutathione in
reduced state
 Detoxification reactions
 Coenzyme A

1) Activation of fatty acids,

2) Biosynthesis of acetylCoA
3) Synthesis of Succinyl CoA
4) Synthesis of Propionyl CoA
Guanosine derivatives

 GTP
 High energy compound in gluconeogenesis
 Formation of RNA from DNA
 Protein biosynthes

 Cyclic GMP (cGMP)

 Second messenger
 Involved in smooth muscle relaxation
Cytidine derivatives

 dCTP
 DNA synthesis

 CDP-choline

 : biosynthesis of phosphotidylcholine

 CDP-ethanolamine

 : synthesis of phosphotidylethanolamine
Uridine derivatives
 UTP
 Biosynthesis of RNA

 UDP-glucose

 Biosynthesis of glycogen
 UDP-glucuronic acid
 Metabolism of galactose
 UDP-glucuronic acid
 Biosynthesis of GAGs
 Detoxification reactions
Thymidine derivatives
 TMP
 Formed from UMP
 Present in tRNA

 dTTP
 DNA synthesis
DNA
 Primary structure of DNA

DNA is a POLYMER OF deoxyribonucleotide in

which deoxyribonucleotides are linked through

3’5’ phosphodiester linkage

Bases:
 Purine
Adenine and Guanine
 Pyrimidine

Cytosine and Thymine

THE SUGAR-PHOSPHATE
P
BACKBONE

 Back bone- Many P

deoxyribonucleotides
P

linked covalently by 3’- 5’

P
phosphodiester bonds
P
 P
G

ADDING IN THE BASES

P
C

 The bases are P

C
attached to the 1st
P
Carbon OF the sugar A

 N1 OF PYRIMIDINE P
T
 N9 OF PURINE
P
T
 One end has 5’ OH group and
the other 3’ OH group that is not
linked to another nucleotide
 Base sequence along the DNA
chain is written from 5’ end of
the chain to 3’ end.
 Secondary structure of DNA

 Watson and Crick model

 DNA is a right handed double helix

Two helical chains are
coiled around each other on
a common axis
 The two strands run
antiparallel. One strand
runs in a 5’ to 3’ direction
and the other in 3’ to 5’
direction.
 The width of the double
 The pitch is 34A
 There are 10
nucleotide bases
 adjacent bases are
separated by 3.4 Aₒ
 POLARITY OF DNA

MOLECULE
 The base is present on the inside and

the phosphodiester linkage and sugars

are on the outside.

 Grooves
 There are two grooves in the DNA

molecule;

 major and minor grooves .

 Base pairing

Two strands are complementary to each

other. adenine of one strand will pair with
thymine of the other strand, while guanine
with cytosine.

This base pairing is called Chargaff ‘s rule,

where no of purines = no of pyrimidines
 HYDROGEN BONDING

The two strands are held together by

hydrogen bonds between the purine and
pyrimidine bases.
Two hydrogen bond between A and T.
Three hydrogen bond between G and C.
Forms of DNA
6 different types: A.B.C.D.E AND Z.
 A ,B,C,D, and E are right handed.
 Z is left handed.
 B form is the predominantly seen
under physiological conditions.
 A form is bulkier than B form.
 A has 11, B has 10 and Z has 12 base
pairs
 Functions of Nucleic Acids

DNA & RNA: Basis of heredity

DNA carries the genetic information

from the parent to the offspring by a
process called replication
Higher organization of DNA

DNA is organized to form a compact

structure
 Nucleosomes

 30nm fiber

 Radial loops

 chromatin
 NUCLEOSOMES
 Regular repeating units of DNA
 Formed by wrapping of DNA around a class of
proteins called as histones
>
 2 regions:

 Core particle: formed by association of

nucleosomes with 4 histone proteins H3, H4,

H2A, H2B. DNA is wrapped around the

octamer
DNA in eukaryotic cells is packaged into
nucleosomes,
which contain proteins called histones.
Nucleosomes are packaged to form 30 nm fibers
RNA STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTION
Ribonucleic acid is a polyribonucleotide in
which nucleotides are linked by
phosphodiester bond
• Nucleotides
Major: AMP, GMP, CMP, UMP

Minor: methylated purines, thymine, dihydrouracil

•Backbone: sugar-phosphate
Types of RNA


m RNA ( messenger RNA)

 t- RNA ( transfer RNA)

 r- RNA ( ribosomal RNA)

 m-RNA

 5’ end- Capped by 7- methyl guanosine triphosphate

 Cap-
 Involved in recognition of m- RNA by the
translating machinery
 Stabilizes m- RNA by preventing attack by 5’
exonucleases
 5’ UTR:
 Untranslated region

 Coding regions:
 Initiating codon – AUG ( Methionine)
 Codons specific for amino acids
 Terminating codons- UGA, UAA, UAG
 m-RNA

Poly A tail –
 Attached to 3’ end of RNA
 Consists of series of adenylate residues, 20 –
250 nucleotides joined by phosphodiester
bonds
 Prevents the attack of 3’ exonuclease
FUNCTION

 Serves as template for protein

biosynthesis
 STRUCTURE
o Appears like a clover leaf
o 4 arms

 Acceptor arm: attachment site for the

amino acid carried by t- RNA

 Base paired stem sequence CCA ( 5’- 3’) at

the 3’ end

D arm:
 Presence of base dihydrouridine

 Anticodon arm:
 Contains anticodon that is
complementary with the codon of m-
RNA
 – responsible for specificity of amino
  TҰ c arm
 Contains ribothymidine ( T) and
pseudouridine Ұ

 Variable arm
 Extra arm varies in size , found between

anticodon and TҰ c arm

Function:
 Carries amino acids in an activated form to

the ribosome for translation

RIBOSOME :

 Factories – in which synthesis of protein

occurs
 They are large complexes of proteins and
r RNA
 Ribosomal RNA ( r- RNA)

 Structure of r- RNA:
 Hairpin loops between complementary regions
of same linear RNA

 Functions:
 Maintains ribosomal structure
 Participates in protein synthesis by
binding m- RNA to ribosomes
Other Nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA

 Heterogeneous RNA ( hn – RNA)

 Precursors of m- RNA


Small nuclear RNA ( sn- RNA)
 Less than 300 nucleotides
 Associated with proteins to form Sn RNP’s
( U1, U2, U4,U5 and U6)
 Involved in removal of introns and splicing
of sucessive exons of m- RNA precursor.
 Difference between DNA & RNA
 Sugar- deoxyribose  Sugar- ribose
 Nitrogenous bases-  Nitrogenous bases-

adenine, guanine, adenine, guanine,

cytosine, thymine cytosine, uracil
 Double stranded  single stranded

 A=T, C=G  A#T, C#G

 Alkali resistant  Destroyed by Alkali

 Self replicated  Formed from DNA

 Millions of base pairs  Only 100-1000 base

 Present in nucleus pairs

Functions of RNA:

m RNA – Specifies the sequence of amino acids

during protein synthesis ( Translation)

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)- seen in association with

ribosomes, the factories of protein synthesis

t- RNA – Delivers the amino acids to ribosomes

during protein synthesis
snRNA’s as SNURPS is involved in post
translational modification of other mRNA’S